Just Friends?
by wolfman5
Summary: After an awkward night, Betty and Daniel must figure out where their relationship stands. Rate M for later chapters. Pairings BxD
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Morning After

Daniel drank. He drank because, in spite of all of his best efforts, Wilhelmina was still here. After all her scheming, all of her planning had fallen through, after being exposed for the fraud she was, she was still floating around the "congratulations Meade isn't going under" party like she owned the place. Laughing and making small talk with anyone who would listen. With Daniel's luck, he would never be rid of her. One day the sign on the door would probably read Slater Publications. No matter what Daniel did, it never seemed to be enough. So Daniel drank.

Betty drank. She drank because things had ended badly. Everything had been going relatively well then, for no apparent reason, everything had fallen apart. Shortly after realizing that they hadn't thwarted Wilhelmina, shortly after losing Christina (who Betty was immensely happy for, don't get her wrong), shortly after watching Daniel crumple into a defeated mess, she had received a voice mail from Matt. "Sorry, things just aren't working out," he had said. "If I'm ever going to make it, I really need to focus. It was really nice getting to know you. I wish you the best of luck." Betty had stared incredulously at her phone wondering what she had done wrong. She had wanted to scream, throw her phone, hit something (which was unfortunate for Marc who had been standing nearby), but Betty was too mature for any of that, or at the very least too stunned. She wasn't a big drinker, but this seemed like the night for it. So Betty drank.

That's really what started everything.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Betty rolled over and slapped out where her alarm clock should have been when her hand didn't find anything she opened a bleary eye. Her head was pounding and she couldn't seem to focus. It wasn't inconceivable that she was just missing it. She squinted and stared at the little table in front of her. Her glasses were there. Her eyes widened. That was not her table. She looked down. These were definitely not her million thread count Egyptian cotton sheets. She felt a movement behind her and slowly looked over her shoulder. Behind her Daniel shifted into a more comfortable position. "Holy cow," Betty said quietly. She grabbed her glasses off of the table and put them on. Glancing down at herself, she realized that she was wearing her bra and nothing else. "Crap," she whispered. She carefully pulled away from Daniel and slid out of bed. She found her clothes and dressed quickly. For a moment she stood over the bed staring down at Daniel. She probably shouldn't run out like this. It was incredibly rude and not something that Betty Suarez would normally do, but she had no idea how she could face Daniel when he woke up. Shaking her head, she quietly let herself out of Daniel's apartment.

Her cab ride home was spent thinking about what had happened. She was frustrated that she couldn't remember. If she hadn't woken up in his bed, she might not have believed that it had happened at all. When they reached her house she paid the driver and went inside. "Betty where were you?" Hilda's voice jumped out at her from the dark. It was made shrill with worry. Betty jumped. "I expected you to come home some time."

Betty shrugged. "I'm home now," she said avoiding Hilda's gaze. Hilda put her hands on her hips and fixed Betty with her best big sister stare. Betty held out for as long as she could. Finally she let out an exasperated sigh. "Hilda, I don't know what happened." She threw herself down on the sofa. "I was at the party last night and I got a phone call from Matt breaking up with me…"

"Matt broke up with you?!"

"Hilda…and I guess I drank a little. This morning I woke up in Daniel's bed."

"What?!"

"Hilda, keep it down!" Betty hissed.

"I'm sorry, but you slept with your boss?" She looked at Betty as if Betty had told her she had sprouted another head overnight.

"I don't know what happened." Betty put her head in her hands. "I don't remember any of it. All I know is that I woke up in his bed completely naked."

"Betty!" Upstairs they heard someone stirring.

"Great," Betty got up. She looked up at the clock on the wall. "I need to get to work. Someone has to get Daniel his coffee and judging by the way he was drinking last night, he's going to need it."

"Betty?" Ignacio called down the stairs.

"Bye Papi! I'll see you tonight," Betty yelled back, wincing slightly. "Bye Hilda."

"Betty, those are the clothes you wore yesterday," Hilda pointed out. Betty looked down. Stamping her foot a little she ran up and changed.

"I'll see you later Hilda."

"What are you going to say to Daniel?"

"Bye Hilda," Betty said more firmly before walking out and shutting the door firmly behind her. Ignacio came down wrapped in his bathrobe.

"Was that Betty?"

Hilda shook her head. "Betty just went to have the most awkward day ever." Ignacio's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Come on Papi, let's go get some breakfast."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel woke up and immediately shut his eyes against the light filtering through his window. His head was throbbing. He looked at the clock. Shit! It was 8:30. He threw back the covers and his eyes fell on a piece of cloth laying in his bed. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands. Pink underwear? He ran a hand over his face. What had he done last night? He was sure it would come to him at the most inopportune moment. After a promise that he would never drink again, Daniel pulled his clothes on and made his way to the bathroom. As he splashed water over his face and tried to convince himself not to throw up, images of the night before flashed through his head. He was kissing someone. Someone who looked a lot like… No! He couldn't have. He was seeing Betty because he was feeling guilty about being late. He was sure to hear about it when he got to work. He probably had a hundred voice mails from Betty by now. He fished his phone out of his pocket and looked at it. Nothing. That was weird, but…she was probably busy. With work! He finished in the bathroom and rushed out, grabbing his jacket on the way by.

As the elevator reached MODE's floor he took a deep breath and composed himself. He hopes that the aspirin he took kicked in soon. The doors open and Daniel strolled down the hall towards his office. "Morning Amanda," he said as he walked past the front desk. The blond looked up and smiled.

"Good morning Daniel. How's Betty?" Daniel looked down at Amanda in confusion.

"I assume she's fine," he answered moving quickly past the desk. "Morning Be-" he was greeted by an empty desk. Stepping into his office he found a cup of coffee and a bagel sitting on his desk. It was all accompanied by a note.

_Daniel,_

_I went out on an errand with Marc. I'll be back soon. I have my phone on me if you need me._

_Betty_

He sat down at his desk and stared at the coffee. Of course nothing had happened. She had still brought him coffee, she had left him a note. Everything was so normal. But Amanda… He rubbed his temples. It was becoming vitally important that he remember what happened last night. "Nice of you to join us, Daniel." He jumped. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't seen his mother enter the room. She took a seat in the chair across from his desk. "Daniel, we have to figure out what we're going to do about Wilhelmina." Daniel nodded, but continued staring off into space. Another flash of last night ran through his head. He was definitely making out with someone who looked an awful lot like Betty. "Are you paying attention at all?" Daniel looked up at his mother, stricken.

"Mom, I think that I may have done something bad."

A/N: This story was bugging me all day so I finally had to sit down and write it out. It's my first Ugly Betty fanfic. I hope it's okay. I think that I missed some episodes so I apologize if there are any errors in the story line. I'll try to update soon. Enjoy.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Business as Usual

Claire Meade looked at her son warily. She loved him dearly, but he could be careless sometimes and it usually ended up making the company look bad. "What happened?" she asked.

Daniel looked at her, unsure how to proceed. He chose the most obvious opening. "I was drinking last night at the party. I guess I had kind of a lot because…"

Claire held up her hand. "You're talking to an alcoholic. You don't have to tell me why you were drinking. What did you do?"

Daniel took a deep breath. "I don't really remember all of it but…I think I slept with Betty." He cringed.

One second was all it took for Claire to compose herself. She had been bracing for a lot worse. "Well, drinking can lead to random sex." She was trying to lighten the mood, but she saw Daniel tense a little more. "You said you don't remember. Maybe nothing happened."

Daniel eyed his mother doubtfully. "Maybe, but somehow I get the impression that something happened." He told his mother about the underwear ( he had given up being embarrassed in front of his family a long time ago) in his bed and the weird greeting he had gotten from Amanda. He also told her about his small remembered flashes. After he stopped talking, Claire shrugged.

"The easiest way to resolve this would be to ask Betty," she pointed out.

Daniel gaped at her. "What, I'm just supposed to say, 'Hey Betty, I don't remember, but did we have sex last night?'?"

"Well I would try a little more tact, but yes. That would be the simplest way to get to the bottom of it."

"Mother, it's insulting. That's the kind of thing you're supposed to remember doing. You certainly don't broadcast it if you don't."

Claire threw up her hands. "Or, you could ask Amanda and get her version of it. You can decide later. We have that meeting with the new designer to get to." Claire stood.

"Right, the meeting." Daniel froze.

"Don't tell me you forgot about it."

He flashed her an uneasy smile. "Of course I didn't forget."

"And you have your proposal ready?"

"I um…" This was just the sort of thing Betty usually reminded Daniel of. He couldn't believe she hadn't at least called him, or left the proposal on his desk with a friendly note. That was what Betty would normally do. Letting Daniel forget about it was very un-Betty like. Claire shut her eyes briefly.

"We'll just have to wing it. We're out of time. Please tell you me you at least remember what the designer does."

"I'll figure it out." Feeling uneasy and just a little bit sick, Daniel followed his mother into the hall. He fixed a smile on his face before he entered the conference room where people were already waiting for them.

"Hello, everyone. Welcome to MODE."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Betty was just sure that she wasn't really the female eye Wilhelmina had been talking about when she had sent Betty and Marc out accessory shopping. She knew Marc would suffice. She didn't know why she had agreed to go except, in some small way (maybe not that small), Wilhelmina terrified her. Mostly the errand got her out of the office so she didn't have to worry about seeing Daniel. She hadn't talked to him since she had snuck out of his apartment and truthfully she had no idea what she would say to him when she did. It had been strange for Wilhelmina to suggest that she accompany Marc, Betty had jumped at the chance to leave. "This works right?" Marc asked, holding up the gaudiest piece of jewelry Betty had ever seen. She guessed it was high fashion, but such things had never been high on her priority list. Marc realized the same thing at that moment. "What am I asking you for?"

Betty shrugged. "I don't know. I don't even know why Wilhelmina asked me to go." Marc shrugged and smiled conspiratorially at Betty.

"At least it gets us out of that meeting right?" He elbowed Betty in the ribs. She froze mid-step.

"The meeting!" She turned around and walked briskly back in the direction of the office. Marc grabbed her arm.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to get Daniel his pro-…posal…" She turned around and looked at Marc. "That's why she asked me to come. So that I wouldn't be there. So Daniel would look like an idiot. I can't believe I fell for that! I have to get back. With any luck it hasn't started yet."

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Marc said throwing an arm across Betty's shoulder. "I'm sure after last night you were, shall we say, distracted?" Betty stopped.

"What about last night?"

"Oh nothing. You'd better go if you're going to stop Daniel from making an ass of himself." Betty considered questioning Marc further to find out what he knew about last night, but awkward or not, Daniel needed her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel was a little past making an ass of himself. He swallowed and loosened his tie once more. He looked at the door as if he was expecting his proposal to miraculously walk through the door. Of course it didn't and he once again glanced around the room at all of the expectant faces turned toward him. His gaze fell on Wilhelmina who arched an eyebrow. He looked back at the designer. "Why should we buy a spot in your next issue?" she prodded.

"Ah, MODE is one of the top selling fashion magazines… We have some possible concepts for the photo shoot…that um..." He looked down hoping that his folder had magically appeared. Had he been a lesser man, or at least alone, he would cry. It was moments like these that made Daniel realize how much he took Betty for granted. He opened his mouth to go on, but was interrupted by Wilhelmina. She stood and smiled sweetly at him. She laid out her copies of the proposed photo shoot out in front of her. Daniel braced himself. This was the part where Wilhelmina made him look like an idiot.

"I believe what Daniel is trying to say is that MODE is one of the top selling fashion magazines. If we run your designs in our next issue you'll gain American publicity. Given the popularity of your line in Paris, your designs would be very big here in New York. What we want to do with our next issue is showcase them." She stopped and looked over in annoyance as the door opened and Betty rushed in.

"Sorry. I'm sorry I'm late." She put a folder down in front of Daniel without looking at him and sat down over on the side.

"Who is this?" the designer said in her thick French accent indicating Betty. Daniel looked up.

"My assistant Betty Suarez."

The designer nodded. It was clear from the look on her face that the meeting was over. Daniel just hoped that Wilhelmina had impressed her with the beginnings of her speech. Not that it mattered. The meeting had been a train wreck from minute one. "Give us a bit to look these over. We'll come back with a decision tomorrow." Wilhelmina smiled cordially.

"Of course, we'll be waiting." The designer and her entourage got up and left the conference room. As they were walking out, Marc came in. Wilhelmina shot him a withering look. He smiled apologetically. Annoyed, Wilhelmina turned her attention to Daniel. "What the hell was that? Couldn't you at least pretend that you want to save this magazine?" Claire stood up.

"Don't talk to him like that." Claire glared at Wilhelmina who fixed Claire with an icy gaze of her own. Daniel stood and edged his way around the two women to go back to his office. He heard Betty's familiar steps following him.

"Daniel, I'm so sorry," Betty started. "I completely forgot about the meeting. Wilhelmina asked me to go with Marc to pick out some jewelry or something…I don't even know…and after last night-" Betty slapped her hands over her mouth. Daniel whirled around to face her. "I guess I was a little distracted," she finished.

"Betty, I looked like a jerk in there! If I'm ever going to get rid of Wilhelmina, I have to do better than that. I need you to be there, to help me. I can't do this without you." Betty flinched a little.

"I said I was sorry," she said quietly. She blinked in an attempt to clear away the tears that had suddenly sprung to her eyes. They were in Daniel's office now. He moved to look out the window. He felt bad about shouting at Betty like that. He knew he shouldn't have, but his ego had always been something that was easily bruised (and Wilhelmina could bruise it like no other) and he was more than a little shaken up with the knowledge that something had indeed happened between Betty and him last night. He knew they couldn't work like this. She was too distracted to do her job and he was too distracted to roll with anything. They had to get past this if they were going to regain their working friendship (if that was even possible). Betty might hate him or resent him for forgetting, but he had to bring it up. He cleared his throat. Still staring out the window he started.

"Betty, about last night…"

Betty sniffed and Daniel turned to face her. "Daniel, what happened last night?" Daniel stared at her.

"You…you don't remember?" Betty shook her head.

"I've tried, but I can't remember anything other than waking up in your apartment this morning." She sat down on the sofa in the corner of the office.

"Well crap. This isn't going to work out like I'd hoped. How are we going to move past it, if neither one of us can remember what happened?" he asked, sitting down in his desk chair.

"We don't remember, we could pretend it didn't happen. As far as we know, it didn't."

Daniel shook his head. "We're going to keep getting grainy flashes of it until it all comes flooding back. We need to try to figure out what happened so that we can talk about why it happened and put it behind us."

"That's deep, Daniel," her voice was dripping with more sarcasm than she had meant it to. She was surprised at how hurt she was by his eagerness to push last night out of his mind permanently. She had never really entertained the idea that Daniel and she could be anything, but she had never been as actively opposed to it as Daniel seemed to be.

"I hate to say this, but maybe we should talk to Amanda. She seems to know something," he went on.

"So does Marc," Betty added. They caught each other's eyes before both standing simultaneously and exiting the office. Daniel was determined to figure this out, even if it meant consulting the office gossips.

A/N: Sorry about the lame meeting. I didn't want to linger on it too long. I hope that you enjoy this chapter. I hope to update this and the rest of my fics soon. Thank you for reading and reviewing. If anyone has any title suggestions, I'm open to them.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you for the reviews and to everyone who read this. I got some excellent title suggestions from MissCar and have decided to call the story "Just Friends?". Thank you for the title.

Disc: I don't own Ugly Betty…If I did Betty and Daniel would have gotten together by now.

Just Friends?

Chapter 3

Betty followed Daniel back out. He went by Amanda's desk. "Amanda, we need you in the conference room now." Betty was sending a text to Marc. Marc looked back into Wilhelmina's office where she was wrapped up with a phone call. He stood and made his way to the conference room. Where Betty was involved there was always entertainment. Soon Amanda and Marc were seated in the conference room. Betty was standing over by the door and Daniel was pacing up and down in front of them. He took a deep breath and turned to face them.

He cleared his throat. "Betty and I need to know what the two of you know...about last night." This elicited giggles from both Marc and Amanda. After a short game of rock, paper, scissors, Amanda cleared her throat and started.

"I saw you over by the bar drinking very heavily. You were whining something about Cruella. Then Betty staggered over to join your pity party…"

"Let me tell the next part," Marc begged. Amanda rolled her eyes.

"Fine."

"After drinking and slobbering all over each other for a while," Marc started, Betty's eyes widened, "you disappeared around the corner. Mandy and I followed you and the two of you were totally making out."

"Making out?" Daniel asked.

"If your tongue had been any more down her throat you would have been able to taste those empanadas she had for lunch," Amanda finished. Daniel wrinkled his nose.

"Then what happened?" he asked, warily. Amanda shrugged.

"You both got into a car and left. Who knows what happened to you after that." Amanda winked. Daniel looked back at Betty who shook her head.

He turned back to face Marc and Amanda. "Thank you both for your time. You can go." In a fit of giggles the two of them sped out of the conference room. Daniel and Betty faced each other. "So…" Daniel started.

"So…" Betty answered. Daniel laughed nervously.

"We got drunk and…some stuff happened. It was one night and it didn't mean anything right?" he asked somewhat desperately. Inexplicably Betty felt as though she had been slapped. With some effort she affixed a smile onto her face and nodded.

"Of course. It didn't mean anything."

"So we can move on and be friends right?"

"Absolutely. We're both adults. We really should be mature about this."

Daniel let out a sigh of relief. "That's exactly how I feel about it. Thank you Betty for being so cool."

Betty nodded. Daniel did his best to ignore the hurt that flitted through Betty's eyes. She turned on her heel and headed back for her desk. Daniel took a deep breath and passed Betty on the way back into his office. He sighed and laid his head down on his desk.

"I'd hate to interrupt your nap," his mother said, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Mom…"

She settled herself on his couch. "Did you ever figure out what happened between you and Betty?" Daniel glanced back out to her desk.

"Oh, um, yeah. We had a little bit too much to drink and got a little carried away. It's in the past. We're fine now." Claire raised an eyebrow.

"You know Daniel, you're going to have to grow up sometime. You can't be a bachelor forever."

He looked at his mother quizzically. "Okay… Where did that come from?"

"All I'm saying is that I don't think that you're really looking honestly at all of your options." She shot a glance back out to Betty's desk before turning back to face her son. "I came in here to remind you that Meade Publications is having their annual meet and greet tomorrow night and I expect you to be there." Daniel opened his mouth to protest, but a severe look from Claire stopped the words before he could speak them. "Bring a date." His mother stood and patted his shoulder. "Don't give up on it Daniel." Before he could respond, she let herself out. Daniel looked back out to where Betty was sitting. He sighed again and ran his hand over his face. He hated the Meade meet and greet. In the past it had been nothing more than an excellent way for Wilhelmina to make him look like an ass. Reaching out he pulled his Rolodex to him and began thumbing through it. The last thing he really wanted to do was to bring a woman along while Wilhelmina humiliated him, but showing up alone seemed somehow worse.

He found the name of a woman he hadn't seen in a while and picked up his phone. "Betty can you get Andrea Costello on the phone?"

Betty looked up at him. "Sure thing." They hung up. He could see Betty thumbing through an identical version of his Rolodex until she found the number. His hand shot out, almost of its own volition. He picked up his phone a fraction of a second before Betty picked up hers.

"Betty, nevermind."

"Okay." She hung up. Daniel made a split decision and stood. He made his way out to stand in front of Betty's desk. Eventually she looked up. "Did you need something?" She smiled up at him and for a moment his breath caught. He ran a nervous hand through his hair.

"Um tomorrow night Meade Publications has this big party where magazine editors, models, photographers, and all sorts of other people get together to meet each other…"

"You need me to get you a date?" Daniel shook his head.

"No, I don't- I was wondering if you would like to go with me." Betty's head shot up, eyes wide.

"Really?"

"I just mean…Wilhelmina is going to be there and it's a sure thing that she's going to be trying to sabotage me and…I need you… You can protect me from being humiliated."

"Oh," Betty nodded, "sure, I can do that. When should I be ready?"

"The party is downstairs so if you just meet me in my office at 6:30 we can go down there together."

Betty smiled even wider. "Alright. Thank you." Daniel smiled back. He turned to head back toward his office. Half way there he stopped and turned back.

"Oh and Betty?"

"Yes Daniel?"

"Can you rent me a tuxedo?"

"Of course." He nodded again then stepped back into his office. Betty reached for the phone.

"Oh. My. God," Amanda's shrill voice rang out. Startled, Betty looked up to see Amanda approaching her desk.

"What?"

"Did Daniel just ask you to the annual Meade party?"

"Yes."

"As his date?"

"No, I mean…sort of." Amanda suddenly grabbed Betty's arm and yanked her up out of her chair. "Amanda! What are you doing?"

"I'm doing you a favor. You're welcome." Hauling Betty down the hallway with one hand she fished out her phone and texted Marc with the other. _Marc. Help. Closet. Now._

Marc was waiting for them when they got to The Closet. Betty looked around and quickly blinked tears from her eyes. Being in here reminded her that Christina wasn't. She could really use her friend right now. As Amanda hauled Betty towards the racks of clothing she pulled herself together. She couldn't afford to fall apart when she might have to defend herself against the troublesome twosome.

"What's this about Amanda?" Marc asked with his hands on his hips.

"A fashion intervention. Daniel just asked Betty to go to the Meade party with him tomorrow." Marc's jaw dropped.

"Not like that," Marc said, indicating Betty's outfit.

"Well I was going to dress up," Betty defended. Amanda rested her head on Betty's shoulder.

"Of course you are. And we're going to help." With a glint in her eye Amanda steered Betty towards the many racks of clothes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel laid his head down on his desk and shut his eyes. Why had he asked Betty? What had possessed him to walk out there to her desk and invite her to the party? Not that he minded spending time with Betty. She was his friend, sometimes his best friend (okay, very much his best friend). Inviting her to the party as his date threatened that close friendship they had built up over the years. He had already threatened that friendship by drinking too much and losing control around her. He was trying to put that behind them and what had he done? He had asked her out. _No, _a small voice in the back of his brain said. _You're bringing Betty to form a more solid wall against the horror that is Wilhelmina._ The voice was shouting this at him over and over, but a part of his mind couldn't stop seeing this as a date.

He took a deep breath and looked down at the pages spread out in front of him. He had to stop thinking about it. He had an issue of MODE to get out and he literally couldn't afford for this one to fail as miserably as the last one. He would worry about his Betty issues tomorrow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Amanda rested her head on Betty's shoulder and looked at her in the full length mirror in front of them. Betty was staring down at herself in something akin to shock. Marc and Amanda had actually managed to find something in The Closet that fit Betty.

"I never thought I'd be saying this, but Betty, you look hot," Amanda said.

"Daniel is going to flip out," Marc added, joining them in the mirror. Betty smiled a little wider. Christina had told her that fashion was "good for the soul" and seeing herself in this beautiful dress she believed it.

"What next?" she asked looking from one to another.

"Hair," they said in unison.

"Take that off," Amanda said. "We wouldn't want you to get food on it before the party." Betty rolled her eyes, but let the comment roll of off her. She had worked long enough with Amanda to expect that sort of comment. She couldn't wait for Daniel to see her all dressed up. She knew that Daniel was very often taken aback by her questionable fashion sense (not that he would ever say anything). He would be floored to see that she had actually tried. She changed back into her clothes and hung the dress back up. Carried on the high of finding a pretty dress she allowed Amanda and Marc to whisk her off to the stylist.

A/N: There it is. I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Next chapter is the party. I'll try to update soon. I've got four other stories going and I'm going around with updating them. Thank you for reading and reviewing. I appreciate all your comments. :D


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I updated. I recently discovered Charles De Lint and Peggle. On with it.

Disc: I don't own "Ugly Betty"

Daniel pulled on his tux and looked himself over once more in the mirror. He tried to ignore the inexplicable butterflies that had risen in his stomach. It wasn't like he didn't see Betty every day, and this wasn't really a date. For some reason he was having trouble not feeling nervous. A soft knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts. He turned and found himself facing his sister, Alexis. "Hey, she said stepping into the room, "mom said you were up here."

"Hey. I'm just getting ready for the party." He furrowed his brow. "I really have to go?" Alexis nodded.

"Plus I'm sure you have some beautiful woman waiting for you." Alexis looked him over. "Oh, Daniel." She came over to straighten his tie.

"I asked Betty." He could feel the blush rising to his face.

"I know, mom told me. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"What else did mom tell you?" Alexis shrugged and looked down at her feet. "It's nothing," Daniel assured her. "Betty and I talked and we're fine. It's not like it's a date. I had to take someone to the party and I enjoy spending time with Betty…" He turned back to study himself in the mirror.

"Sure, Daniel. Just be careful." She left the room and after one more moment of hesitation, Daniel picked up his jacket and headed out to go pick up Betty.

"There. Perfect." Hilda stepped back, admiring her work.

Amanda put a hand on her hip. "I gotta' hand it to you Suarez, Betty looks hot." Betty smiled as she examined herself in the mirror. She looked better than she could ever remember looking. The dress Marc and Amanda had picked hugged her body in all the right places. It was bright fuchsia without being garish. Amanda and Justin had applied her makeup in a way that looked natural, but made her skin look flawless. Her lashes were a mile long and her dark eyes seemed to be bottomless pools. Hilda had piled her hair on top of her head, securing it with several sparkly butterfly shaped clips leaving a few curly wisps to frame her face. They were a perfect match to the butterflies in her stomach. Once more she pushed them down and shoved away the thought that they had anything to do with excitement over her date with Daniel. It wasn't even a date, not really. She was nervous because this was an important event and she had to try so hard not to embarrass Daniel. She smoothed out her dress one more time then headed for the door. She was stopped when Amanda grabbed her arm.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"It's almost time for Daniel to pick me up. I was going to go downstairs to wait for him."

"Betty, you don't go wait for the guy to show up. You make _him _wait." Betty raised an eyebrow. "You sit up here and when he shows up, you say 'I'll be down in a minute, I'm just finishing up'. You wait five minutes or so then you go down there." A knock on the front door cut Amanda's tirade short.

"I got it!" Justin yelled up the stairs. "Oh hey, Daniel," his voice drifted up the stairs.

"Hey… is Betty around?" Butterflies started up in Betty's stomach at the sound of her boss's voice. She started for the door but was stopped by Amanda once again.

She rolled her eyes. "Amanda, this is ridiculous. It's not even like this is a real date." She pushed past Amanda and exited the room. Slowly she descended the stairs and as Daniel came into view her breath caught. She had always known that Daniel was good-looking, to deny that seemed to be irresponsible, but tonight, there was something else. "Daniel," she barely breathed as she took in his normally messy hair, his startling blue eyes. As she met his eyes he saw something there as he took her in.

"Betty, wow you look…" he trailed off and cleared his throat. "Ready?" he offered her his arm. Betty slid her arm through his and grinned at Hilda who was lookingat her like a proud mother. "I'll have her home at a reasonable hour, Mr Suarez," Daniel assured Betty's father before sweeping her out of the house. He helped her into the towncar and slid in next to her.

"So…" she started, glancing over at Daniel, "I've never been to one of these things. How does it work?"

Daniel looked over at her and smiled his nonchalant smile. "You smile pretty and kiss up to as many people as you can. Sorry about dragging you into this," he added, his smile becoming aplogetic.

"Smile and kiss up, I can handle that," Betty said definitely.

"I figured you could. That's why I asked you." Betty couldn't tell why, but his comment hit her like a punch to the stomach. She recovered quickly and smiled.

"I won't let you down, boss."

Daniel helped Betty out of the car. Her jaw dropped as she looked around. The party was held in the Meade building and Betty had never seen it this packed. There were sports cars and town cars lining each side of the street, women in their fanciest clothes, men dressed in three piece suits. People surrounded the car as Betty and Daniel stepped out. There were admirers (mostly women) and reporters wanting to know who Daniel's date was. Daniel's smile was radient, the smile of a man who done this a thousand times, as he led Betty into the building. As soon as they were away from the throng, he let out a sigh of relief.

"That was intense," Betty said looking up at Daniel.

"Wait. That was only the beginning." As soon as the words left his mouth, he was surrounded by sponsers who all wanted a spot in the next issue of Mode and other magazines who all wanted to know his secrets. Betty quickly learned to stand by Daniel's side and smile. She learned to laugh in all the right places and quickly became the perfect compliment to Daniel's easy and suave façade. She found it all exhausting, but she found that she wanted nothing more than to make Daniel look good. She wanted to please him, though she couldn't quite figure out why.

After an hour Betty's face hurt from smiling and she wanted nothing more than to grab a drink and sit down. She found the perfect opening and she took it. Excusing herself she headed over to the bar. She ordered a tequila sunrise for herself and a scotch on the rocks for Daniel. "Betty?" a voice behind her said. She jumped slightly and whirled around, nearly spilling the drinks all over the owner of the voice. She came face to face with a stunned looking Matt. "Wow, it is you. I didn't recognize you. You look so…amazing." Betty felt herself blushing.

"Hey, Matt. Thanks. My sister and Amanda threw this together."

"That color really suits you."

"Thank you. Amanda helped me pick it out. You look really good in that suit…"

Daniel had finally pried himself away from a particularly persistent marketing representative and headed for the bar where he was too meet Betty. He stopped short when he saw Matt. He and Betty were laughing and talking and generally looking cozy. Daniel felt his cheeks growing hot and a strange dull anger began to creep into his mind. Betty looked up and saw him but before she could speak he turned on his heel and was gone.

Betty was looking over Matts shoulder, her mouth formed a 'D' but nothing came out. She couldn't be 100 percent sure, but Daniel had looked angry just before he turned away. "Betty." Matt's voice broke through her thoughts. She shook her head and forced herself to look at him. "I asked you what you've been up to."

Betty smiled uncomfortably. "Oh you know, this, that… Listen Matt, this has been fun. I have to go."

"We were having a good time," Matt replied.

"Yes, it was nice talking to you again, and we should do it again sometime, but now… I just remembered some work that I was supposed to get done by tomorrow. You know how they get about deadlines." Betty pulled herself away from Matt and ran as fast as her heels could take her.

"He's upstairs," a passing voice called to her. She whiled and found Claire Meade watching her.

"Thank you Mrs. Meade," she called back, breathlessly. She climbed onto the elevator and pressed the button that would take her up to Mode.

Daniel leaned against the confrence table barely focusing on the designs laid out in front of him. He figured if he was going to be up here hiding from the party, he might as well get some work done. It turned out that it was hard to work on layouts when everything you saw was a bright, angry shade of red. He slammed his fist down on the table. There was a part of him that wished they had never gotten involved with Matt's dad. If they had just let it go, Matt wouldn't be down there talking to Betty. Oozing his way back into her life. Daniel knew they had had no choice in the matter. The magazine had been going under and they did what they could. He threw himself back into one of the many chairs that lined the table and put his head in his hands. There was a soft knock on the door.

"Daniel?" Betty's soft voice drifted across the conference room. He looked up quickly and smiled easily.

"Betty, how's the party going?"

"Fine. What are you doing up here."

"Um, I just remembered that I need to get this layout done." He looked at the still scattered pages. "It's not going so well."

"Do you need help?" Daniel waved her away.

"No, I'm fine. Go back down and enjoy the party. I'm sure Matt's missing you." His tone was slightly more scathing than he had meant it to be.

"Is this about me talking to Matt?"

Daniel laughed loudly. "Of course not. Why would I care if you talked to Matt?"

Betty looked down at her feet. "Maybe because of what happened between us."

"What happened between us didn't mean anything…" Betty felt her hands ball into fists at her side. Still looking down, she spoke through clenched teeth.

"Just because it didn't mean anything to you, doesn't mean it didn't mean anything to me."

"Betty…"

"I went along with it and agreed with you because you were so adament about it. I thought you were serious and didn't want to cause you any extra trouble by disagreeing. Now you're getting bent out of shape because I was talking to Matt? If it really meant nothing to you, it shouldn't matter who I'm talking to." Betty looked up and was surprised to find Daniel's face just inches from hers. "Daniel…"

She gasped as his lips closed over hers. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled back to whisper in her ear. "You really do look amazing tonight." She tangled her fingers in the short hair at the back of his neck and pulled him back into a deep kiss. She felt his tongue slide across her bottom lip. She parted her lips slightly, inviting him in. An intense heat was starting to build in her lower abdomen and working its way up. She pulled him closer, wanting even more of him.

"Well isn't this cozy…" a cool voice said from the doorway. Horrified, Betty and Daniel looked up.

"Wilhelmina…" Betty's eyes widened as Matt stepped out from behind Wilhelmina.

"Betty?"

A/N: Wow… Sorry it's been quite a while. I had to take a break from it so that I could get my direction back. I'm planning on trying to update my other stories too. I hope that you enjoy this chapter.


End file.
